Khalilzad: Al Qaeda at its weakest in Afghanistan

ATLANTA (Pajhwok): A former US diplomat has rejected a Washington Post report that alleged Afghanistan has re-emerged as a staging ground for terrorism.

Zalmai Khalilzad, ex-special representative of the United States for Afghanistan, said about the report that the “sensationalist hyperbole is unwarranted”.

In a tweet on Monday, Khalilzad wrote the report, based on a leaked Pentagon document, was a sensationalist hyperbole that was unwarranted.

He said an upswing in terrorism from Afghanistan had been one of the fears associated with the US withdrawal. But that has not happened.

Al Qaeda, having declined significantly, was currently at its weakest in Afghanistan, the ex-ambassador claimed.

The Taliban regarded ISIS-K as their mortal enemy and had carried out deadly attacks against them, killing many of its leaders, he added.

The ex-special representative said: “ISIS-K does remain a threat, and it remains to be seen if the Taliban can eliminate them. Taliban face challenges. For example, Tajikistani extremists have been able to cross into Afghanistan and join ISIS.”

He continued: “When the US still had forces in Afghanistan, controlling the Afghanistan’s borders was one of the biggest challenges. But neighbours, especially Tajikistan, Pakistan and Iran, must do their part to prevent ISIS terrorists from crossing into Afghanistan.”

Khalilzad explained the US and the Taliban had a common interest against ISIS-K. Thus, the bottom line is that from a US standpoint, things have improved in regard to Al Qaida and have remained more or less the same regarding the threat from ISIS in Afghanistan.

When the US still had forces in Afghanistan, ISIS-K had plans and intentions to attack the US and the West, he said.

“According to the DNI’s Annual Assessment, published in February, it “RETAINS the intent to conduct operations against the West” Khalilzad maintained.

“We should hold the Taliban to their commitments on terrorism. We must remain vigilant by both monitoring the evolution of the terror threat from Afghanistan and retaining the ability to protect and defend ourselves.

“At the same time, we should be pragmatic in dealing with the Taliban in the interest of our counter-terror and geopolitical interests and continue expressing our concerns about the human rights of the Afghan people.”

The experience of the last two years had been better than many expected, with no US loss of life since the withdrawal and with the saving of some $40 billion spent on the war there annually, Khalilzad argued.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for Islamic Emirate, has also rejected the Washington Post report as propaganda.

aw/mud

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